{ { has suggested THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER NOVEMBER, 1971 38,000 copies Printed in this issue J eG ‘ al J pau ] | Tle @| aye “TAT lyr a Le ie |. rif NOT a) i Published once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Counci! No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 ness Manager—Fred Fieber Advertising Representatives—Elizabeth Spencer Associates Kerr Busines Forwarded to every member of the 1WA in Western Canada inaccordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year EDITORIAL on P.P.W.C. REVOLT To officers of the Pulp & Paper Workers of Canada who have often charged International unions with being undemocratic, are now being accused of the same thing by their own mem- bership. The revolt in the organization has become so bitter that a Committee for Unity has been formed by rank-and-file members in an attempt to restore democratic control back into the hand of the membership. This Committee in a bitter statement that certain PPWC organizers should be given the “Fickle Finger Award” for aiding officers of a company union sign a “sweetheart agreement” to prevent any legitimate labour union gaining certification. The operation referred to is the North Central Plywoods in Prince George and the agreement foisted on the employees had already been rejected by the PPWC Local in that area. The Committee also hotly attacked the executive for its failure to report on the decisions made at the recent PPWC convention held at Fairmont Hot Springs. The Union's President Stan Shewaga has also been bitterly criticized for what the Unity Committee calls his “power trip.” This is in reference to his un- warranted raiding of IWA operations without first gaining approval of his executive or membership. The Committee concluded statement by saying: ; its “Certain locals are calling for blood and are trying to make Angus McPhee the scapegoat. Angus has been a good union man for many years and we know he is quite disgusted with Stan’s theatrics, bad judgment and his inability to do a job for the people. “The next while will see a tremen- dous power struggle being carried on in your union with little regard given to the membership. “Ask your delegate for the full story on the goings on at Fairmont Hot Springs. Ask for the true behind-the- scenes story which is tearing the PPWC asunder.” Angus MacPhee, a former PPWC officer, is also highly critical of the lack of ‘democracy displayed by the union's present officers. In an article in the latest issue of the PPWC paper he states his objection to censorship where the leadership is being criticized, and also condemns the top officers for breaking the principles of democratic unionism. His article stated in part: “I sympathize with the editor’s plea for voluntary censorship insofar as it encompasses libellous material or personal invective. However, the first problem is fairly clear cut and the second is generally more damaging to the writer than the target, so that’s really not the censorship we’re talking about — that the editor considers to be a current problem. “Whatis really being discussed is the freedom of the paper’s pages to those who disagree on union policy questions. This year it was the direction our union should take organizationally — and the criticisms were valid. All the more so because elected officers had used the paper to announce a policy of their own choosing quite distinct from any membership decision. “This was, in my opinion, a usur- pation of authority that properly belongs with the membership via the locals and the convention. It is of such stuff that bureacracies are built, particularly so if the channels of reply get clogged with a piety of union solidarity. “This was no chicken and egg dilemma — it’s quite clear who first broke the principles of democratic unionism. It matters little that the declared policy was (in effect) belatedly endorsed by the executive board, for to make matters of more concern was the exclusion of criticism from the executive board minutes too. “I'd rather take my chances with the possible embarrassment of free discussion than see our union foun- dations corroded by ill conceived am- bition. “When our newspaper fails to honestly reflect free opinion it will not only be the paper’s future at stake but the Union's future as well.” For a former top officer and one of. the founders of the organization to level such criticism against the top officers, clearly indicates the depth of the split. Faced with such a split, the future of the PPWC is a matter for speculation. If the present administration succeeds in quelling the revolt, it still faces a bitter jurisdictional battle with the IWA. However, if the anti-administration forces gain power, then perhaps sanity can be restored to that segment of the labour movement. Workin’ petite . in a . . What time ya got? camp sure gives ya an ap- FOREIGN LOANS CREATED UNEMPLOYMENT The number of plant shut- downs and the. reduction of employment were more serious in the one-year period ending June 1971 than in any other decade since the financial crash of 1929, ac- cording to a survey initiated by the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Executive Board. The survey, entitled Shut- down: The impact of plant shutdown and layoffs on the workers and the community, was based on a_ widely distributed questionnaire and numerous field interviews of workers affected by OFL Research Director John Eleen and law student Ashley Ber- nardine. It indicates that over 16,000 Ontario workers either - lost their jobs or were laid off during the period surveyed. The figure only includes workers in plants that had 25 or more terminations or layoffs. Some of the OF L’s strongest criticism is directed at the operations of the Ontario Development Corporation, or rather of ‘‘the government running it’’. According to the report about half the $40,000,000 in forgiveable loans was given in the last few years to foreign- owned firms, which was ‘“‘in effect helping to promote the foreign take-over of our economy’”’. ‘Some of the other charges levelled at the government are that the: big corporations often don’t need the loans; the ODC has no Say in the running of the company which gets the loan; _tario there are no rules on how the money is granted; and com- panies who receive grants to build a~- plant often close another plant elsewhere, with no increase, and often a decrease in jobs. The report calls for a thorough overhaul of the ODC whose new duties should in- clude: forcing small and growing new _ industries; promoting Canadian com- panies; forcing companies to pay back ODC-granted loans whenever they shut down any of their operations in Canada; making sure that borrowing companies are ‘‘good cor- porate citizens’’; and favouring loans to expanding job-intensive industries. ‘The report contains a series of proposals including: legislation requiring longer notice of layoff by employers and economic sanctions against runaway foreign controlled companies; ex- pansion of the role of the On- Development Cor- poration in the economy; more emphasis on job security in collective agreements and the right to negotiate and to strike on matters of technological change during the life of an agreement; creation of labor- management. manpower committees and a stronger role for the Department of Man- power, coupled with a strengthening of training, retraining and relocation programs; and adoption of a shorter work year and work week, longer vacations and earlier retirement. not only got its money back ‘was missing. — _ INTEREST NOTED The third-largest bank, in the U.S., the First National _ _ City Bank of New York, lost $38.8 million through a bookkeeping error, by paying twice for one government security. When it found the error, 10 weeks later, the bank asked for, and got, an additional $38.8 million to use free of charge for 10 weeks, so it could make up for what it could have earned on private loans during the time the money from the Treasury but also